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Life Of Pi Argumentative Essay

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In the story, Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, Pi has to go against his religion and fish to get food. He wants to stay alive and he has no other option. Pi is stranded in the middle of the ocean after a shipwreck. In Chapter 61 of this novel, Pi has to go fishing in order to feed the tiger stranded on the lifeboat with him, Richard Parker. He is raised as a vegetarian as part of his religion, but he is forced to go against that principles by fishing and killing a fish. Pi has no other option. If he wants to stay alive, he has to kill that fish. He has a very limited supply of food, and he is already beginning to starve. Pi says, “I thought this was remarkable considering how little I had eaten in the last several days.”, and “After a breakfast of three biscuits and one can of water, I read what the survival manual had to say on the subject.” (Martel 83). This evidence shows that Pi has to kill the fish because he needs food for himself, and for …show more content…

However, this is not true. Pi was literally stranded in the middle of the ocean with a tiger. He has no other food resources for himself or Richard Parker. Pi says, “The first problem arose: bait. I thought about it. There were the dead animals, but stealing food from under a tiger’s nose was a proposition I was not up to. He would not realize that it was an investment that would bring him an excellent return. I decided to use my leather shoe. I had only one left.” (Martel 84). This evidence shows that there is no other option for Pi to eat because he doesn’t even have bait for the fish. There are dead animals on the boat, but eating them would go against his religion as well. The only option he has is to eat an animal. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Pi is desperate to get food and stay alive. He has no other food for him to eat in the middle of the

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The Will to Live React: I vividly imagine Pi as a thin man who is desperate for food and water at this moment since he is close to death. I understand that he is doing everything he can to stay alive even if it means doing something that he thinks is wrong. Explain: Pi kills the fish in order to survive since the ocean is his only food source. Pi is also a vegetarian so he demonstrates the will to live by doing whatever he has to do to stay alive even if it means

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935 Words | 4 Pages

The one thing that really helped Pi’s situation was the survival guide book that gave very useful tips about surviving in the sea. On page 285 it says, “My cup arrived at the nick of time. At the second that I was in position at the base of his tail, Richard Parker’s anus distended, and out of it, like a bubble-gum balloon came a black sphere of excrement.” Ok so first of all ew and second of all this was a very interesting part of the novel when Pi literally tries eating cat poop… Later in the novel you can see that Pi is taking a liking to the sharks that are around him because on page 290, “ Otherwise, I grew quite fond of shark. They were like curmudgeonly old friends who never admit that they liked me yet came around to see me all the time.”

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567 Words | 3 Pages

This tiger can easily kill pi, but the way pi prevents this is he kills an innocent fish to feed the tiger so the it won 't kill him because it 's hungry. Pi made this choice because he wanted to survive, you might argue saying he could of done something else but he didn 't have anything else to do. In these kind of situation we all want to survive just like pi did, he did what he had to do. He shouldn 't be held accountable for what he has done because at the end of the day it 's all

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661 Words | 3 Pages

He has difficulty fishing for food to keep them both satisfied. However, Pi is a total coward and makes stupid decisions. He was being too easy and let his food get away from him several times. He lost his shoe in his first terrible attempt at fishing. "The whole shoe disappeared bit by bit... Until I was left with only the rubber sole and the shoelace."

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617 Words | 3 Pages

As Pi had already gone numerous day without any form of nourishment. So he was near death, and perhaps if he had waited just another day he would die naturally and French cook could not also survive many days without shelter so Pi has taken right step by killing French cook and shelter himself by eating his liver and heart. So Pi has just saved his life by killing the French cook he has not done anything wrong by killing as

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305 Words | 2 Pages

In the story, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, it shows Pi becoming a different person after he kills the flying fish. When Pi was fishing and when he caught the flying fish he did not have any fear or negativity towards thinking about killing it, until his attitude went to being very sad and biased because he was a vegetarian. The quote that makes Pi become a different person is when he catches the dorado and states, “Killing it was no problem.. I went about the job in a direct way. ”(Martel 89).

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469 Words | 2 Pages

Martel utilizes the tiger to display discipline, courage, primitive instincts, and the vitality of companionship, all of which are traits that embody Pi, himself. A key factor in Piscine’s survival is the pure notion that Richard Parker’s company emits a ferocious and relentless ambiance. This eventually leads Pi to make decisions regarding his well-being, despite its rationality. Each day Pi is at sea, he becomes more cognizant and aware of his basic life necessities. Often Pi says things such as, “Alone or not, lost or not, I was thirsty and hungry” and “I was continuously hungry.

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372 Words | 2 Pages

In the book “Life of PI” there are two versions or stories, one is about how PI makes friends with a tiger on the lifeboat and the other animals eat each other, and also the other version where Pi ends up eating the other humans. I believe that the second version is true. Even though cannibalism is a horrific topic to think about it is more realistic. Though I do believe the second version is true, but the first one isn 't necessarily wrong. Since Pi has trouble killings a fish on the lifeboat, “It was split open and bloody on one side of his head...

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772 Words | 4 Pages

All sentient life is sacred. I never forget to include this fish in my prayers”(Martel 203). By using words such as “terrible burden”, “sacred”, and “never forget” Martel is able to put the reader in Pi’s shoes. The reader can feel the heartache that Pi feels after his first murder. Shortly after, the reader reads, “I did whatever necessary to hold a fish down until I could reach for the hatchet and chop its head off…I laid hands on so many fish that my body began to glitter from all the fish scales that became stuck to it…those were the good days”(Martel 216).

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729 Words | 3 Pages

Pi, lost at sea where food and water are severely scarce, puts him down all the way to the bottom of the pyramid of physiological needs. * From the moment the ship sank, all that was on his mind was to find all sources to survive before worrying about anything else. His ethics of being vegetarian and Hindu were clearly disregarded through the savage butchering of all the animals he comes by, which he must do to survive. In the beginning, the first sign of this was when he lost all sense of fear and safety to go on the boat and find sources of water, as he was becoming dehydrated. “Now that the word had popped into my head I couldn’t think of anything else, as if the

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1296 Words | 6 Pages

There is one moment in the story where all his developed instincts were challenged. He was met with a school of flying fish that would jump out of the water and into the lifeboat. He had wrapped one fish in a blanket and intended to kill it with a hatchet. He could not bring himself to kill this fish with a hatchet, but ultimately cannot go through with it. Pi ends

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534 Words | 3 Pages

In Yann Martel's book Life of Pi, Pi has to make some tough decisions that will ensure his survival. He courageously decides that he can no longer be vegetarian, for the only way to survive is to get protein by way of animal meat, he stays faithful through the toughest times, and he made the brave decision to keep Richard Parker on the boat with him. Pi makes moral sacrifices, despite his devout religious beliefs, that allow him to survive. " But enough is enough.

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714 Words | 3 Pages

Pi encounters a French castaway; the castaway foolishly enters Pi’s lifeboat and is eaten by Richard Parker. After Richard Parker kills the French castaway, Pi starts using the leftover flesh for his own uses, such as fishing: “I will confess that I caught one of his arms with the gaff and used his flesh as bait” (322). In his isolated state, he thinks of nothing but survival and how he will receive his next meal. Soon after, Pi even goes to the extremity of eating the flesh of the mangled dead castaway. This deed of cannibalism barely registers in his mind as he admits, “... I ate some of his flesh.

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817 Words | 4 Pages

Likewise, in order to survive he has to go against his beliefs and kill a fish, to keep the tiger Richard Parker fed, so he would not savagely devour Piscine. Life for Pi contained a hazardous amount of hardships, moving from India, living at sea with a tiger, etc. Although, Pi did not give up because if he did; he knew that the beginning of his wisdom would end before it

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447 Words | 2 Pages

This idea may be based off of the fact that he had to kill the fish in order to survive, and to keep Richard Parker (the tiger) alive as well. Following the time of killing the flying fish (which Pi uses as bait) he catches a dorado, and explains that the food he is catching is for Richard Parker. Pi states, “It was for Richard Parker and he would have dispatched it with expert ease” (Martel 89). Through a religious aspect, it can be seen that Pi did not necessarily change is values, but had to go against his morals because of the specific scenario of survival. This may be true; however, Pi directly mentions that he is changed from the time of killing the flying fish to taking the life away from a beautiful dorado.

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